


The Sweet In Between

by zombiepoet



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Afterlife, Death, Heaven, IT - Freeform, It (2017) - Freeform, M/M, Movie: IT Chapter Two (2019), Reddie, in between
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 14:02:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20761529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiepoet/pseuds/zombiepoet
Summary: In which Richie meets Eddie in a lucid dream after Eddie's death. Something makes him question whether it's a dream or reality.





	The Sweet In Between

**Author's Note:**

> This is my way of coping. I hope you enjoy it :)

The last twenty-four hours will change Richie Tozier’s life forever. He sits down on what he believes is a very questionable bedspread. It has holes in it and looks dirty – but he doesn’t care anymore. For a second, (or two hours, he’s not quite sure) he stares into the empty air that is his hotel room. Later that same day, he went to check it something that he remembered was still there – a carving of two initials into the wooden railing of The Kissing Bridge.   
R+E  
He thought he would be in disbelief when and if he saw it, but he wasn’t. Bursting out crying, he longed for his love that he knew even back then was his love.  
His love.  
Richie looks at the clock on the wall and lies down. Naturally, he cries himself to sleep.

**

He’s still in his hotel room, but it looks cleaner and bigger. Sighing once or twice, he walks out of the door and into a meadow, when something hits him – something that has never occurred to him before.

He’s dreaming.

But how can be dreaming when he’s aware of it, and how can it feel so real, so vivid? He looks around at the beautiful surroundings, before sitting down on a big rock, that happened to just be there. Oddly convenient, he thought to himself. The rock is warm and he can feel the heat of the sun warming him in the face without it getting in his eyes. He’s never felt literal warmth in a dream before. This feels exactly like being awake.  
“I thought I might find you here.” Disrupting his thoughts, he spins around and looks up.

His love.

“Eddie.” Richie stands up and immediately feels tears clogging up his eyes. The figure who looks exactly Eddie, Richie thinks, smiles and kneels down in front of him. He shakes his head. “You’re not Eddie. Eddie’s dead.” Eddie stands up and nods as if he understands exactly what Richie means and feels.

“Richie.” He checks to see if Richie is smiling. He isn’t. Hesitatingly, he reaches out his hand for Richie to take. It takes a little while, but he takes it eventually and stands up. Fuck, Richie thinks. He even smells like Eddie. His subconscious mind must really have picked up on every little thing about him. “Isn’t this place beautiful?” Eddie asks and Richie sobs.

“Yeah. I’ve never experienced anything like this in a dream before. Hell, I’ve never had a lucid dream before.”

“Oh, you’re not dreaming, Richie.” Eddie’s smile turns Richie’s knees into jelly, even if it’s just a dream.

“Of course, I am. Y-you died. You’re dead. Oh god…” Richie kneels down as he recalls his last minutes with Eddie. Real-life Eddie.

“Richie,” Eddie says as he sits down on the grass next to him. “Ever since I died, I’ve been here.”

“Where are we?” Richie asks confusedly. He looks around. It’s a meadow, but more peaceful. It’s almost as if it’s…

“I’m in the in between.”

“What?” Richie says and shakes his head. “That makes no sense. Why am I here, then?” Richie’s never felt as confused in his life. What was going on? Was he not really dreaming?  
Eddie shrugs.

“Maybe… a higher power felt it was important that we meet again.” As Richie lets this sink in, he feels himself going in and out of shock and back to reality. Well, if you can call this reality. He looks at Eddie; the honey brown eyes, the dimples, the smell, the hair… unmistakably. This is Eddie. His Eddie. His love.

“Oh my god,” Richie says as he tackles Eddie in a hug that feels more real than anything has ever felt. They stay like that for minutes or hours, Eddie stroking Richie’s hair as he keeps sobbing. His glasses are foggy, so he takes them off and wipes them off in his shirt.

“So, you really love me, huh?” Eddie says grinning. He keeps holding Richie, but this time they’re facing each other.

“I’m sorry I never got a chance to tell you.” Richie says, wiping away a tear. “But there it is. I love you. I’m in love with you. I always have been.” The pause between his words and Eddie’s next feels like hours. Eddie laughs.

“Richie Tozier loves me. I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah, well,” Richie says. “Have your fun with it. I’m done pretending to be someone I’m not. I’m done pretending I didn’t always love you. I’m-“ Eddie shuts him up by closing the inch long gap between their lips and Richie feels it’s the most perfect kiss he’s ever had. The sensation is out of this world (figuratively and literally), the taste indescribable and that feeling called love bursting with fireworks inside him. They both lie down on the grass as they pull apart.

“I love you too, dummy.” Richie looks at him with shock in his eyes. “I always have. Or, I realized when I saw that someone had carved R+E in the Kissing Bridge. Dumb, right? That could’ve been anyone.”

“It was me.” Richie laughs as he rolls onto his back.

“It was?!” Eddie laughs too as he sits up, looking at his love’s face. Richie nods. They’re both quiet for a few minutes before Eddie lies down again looks at Richie. They’re holding hands. “Hey,” he says and swallows. “Do you remember the first time we kissed?”

“Who? You and me?” Richie takes off his glasses and looks directly into Eddie’s eyes. “What do you mean…?” He says as his jaw drops and he covers his mouth with his hand. “My fourteenth birthday. We kissed in my room as it were the most natural thing in the world. You asked me what I really wanted for my birthday and I guess that was all I wanted.” They both laugh. “Did we ever speak of it again?”

“Not once.” Eddie grins. “It wasn’t even awkward. Which is weird. What kind of teenage boys randomly kiss each other for no reason?” His smile widens.

“Actually,” Richie says, taking Eddie’s hand in his. “It wasn’t random and it wasn’t without reason. I was in love with you.”

Eddie turns to look at him. Seriously, this time. “Even then?”

“Always. It’s always been you, I suppose. I just wish we could’ve spent our adulthoods together.”

“Me too,” Eddie says. “but it’s weird. When we both had left Derry, I kind of… forgot about all of you? And then when Mike called, it all came screaming back to me.” He squeezes Richie’s hand. “Both the awful stuff, and the wonderful stuff…” He smiles and Richie swears, he’ll never forget how he feels in this very moment, even if it’s just a dream. He cups Eddie’s beautiful face in his hands and kisses him gently. Eddie kisses back, and for Richie, no kiss he’s ever experienced has felt more real despite him not being sure if this is actually real or not. The kiss they share send him to heaven, to the sweet in between, to Earth, to the moon and back. How can a dream feel more real than reality?

“I don’t ever want to leave you again.” Richie mumbles against his lips. Eddie shakes his head as he pulls away, just an inch.

“I will never leave you. You’ll always be able to find me. In here,” Eddie says, putting a hand on Richie’s heart. “In here,” He points to his own head this time. “And whenever you need it, I’ll be here. In the sweet in between. But Rich,” he says, seriously this time. “You have to move on.”

“I can’t.” The thought of letting go of the love of his life once and for all terrifies him more than the clown ever did. They both cry as they pull each other closer.

“For me. Do it for me. Surround yourself with people who love you for who you are. Keep Bev, Ben, Mike and Bill in your life. Don’t lose contact again. Please…” Eddie begs as he kisses Richie’s neck. Richie gives a short nod as a sign that he understands. “Here. Take this.” When Richie looks at Eddie’s small hands, he sees a little letter with a heart stamp on it.

“What is this?” He asks with a broken voice as he’s still crying lightly.

“I wrote this letter when we were teenagers. I meant to give it to you, but never did. And even when we lost contact, I kept it. I kept it for over two decades.” He hands the vintage looking letter to Richie, who shakes his head in disbelief but takes it nonetheless.

“This isn’t real, is it?” He sobs uncontrollably now. “This is just a dream. A very, very vivid dream.” None of them says anything for a while until Eddie gently strokes Richie’s cheek. The stroke feels so real; it sends chills down his spine and throughout the rest of his body.

“I love you.” Eddie says and stands up. As it looks like he’s about to walk away, Richie stands up and raises his voice.

“Don’t leave me again!” He sobs hysterically. “I love you so much, Eds. More than I’ve ever loved anyone!” He falls to his knees, still crying. He feels a hand on his shoulder and when he looks up, he gets sunlight in his eyes but can still make out the silhouette of Eddie.

“This isn’t goodbye.”

**

When Richie wakes up, he is more confused than he’s ever been before. The state he is in, feels more than a dream than the supposed dream he just had. Looking around the room, it feels smaller than it did before he went to sleep. He lies down again, his heavy head on the pillow. He doesn’t need any covers. As he moves around a bit, he feels as if there’s something under his pillow. A pack of tissues? No… maybe it’s the mattress. He picks up the pillow and sees it; the vintage looking letter with a heart stamp. For a solid two minutes, Richie does nothing but sit with his hand on his mouth, tears falling from his eyes; he doesn’t notice it. He picks up the letter and looks at it. It says Richie on the front and has the heart stamp on the back. It takes a good few minutes until he finds the courage to open it.

10.09.1989

__  
Dear Richie  
This is the hardest letter I’ve ever had to write. I’ve wanted to say this for so long, but I never dared to do it. But since I’m grounded, I might as well pour my heart out on paper. I’ve always felt unsafe when you aren’t there. It makes me wonder why? I don’t feel the way about you that I do with our other friends. I feel more than friendship. Does it make sense? I mean, I know we’re just friends. But it feels like… more. You know? I hate it when you tease me and call me those nicknames, but I also kind of like it. I like it when you’re around and dislike it when you’re not. I want you to be with me. All the time. This is so hard to write. It’s hard to even think! But I love you, Richie. I’m in love with you. I know you probably don’t feel the same. But I had to get it out. I can’t go on pretending I don’t feel this way when I do. I might not even deliver this letter to you. But who knows? Maybe I’ll give it to you when we’re older. I feel like I’m rambling, which is usually your thing, but I just needed you to know this  
Your Eddie 

Richie stares at the paper and feels like he’s back in 1989. He imagines how he would react, had he received the letter back then. _What took you so long!_ He’d say. And then kiss him. Richie smiles as he sheds a tear. He’s surprised he even has more tears left in his system. Clutching the letter close to his heart, he whispers: I love you too, Eds. See you again, in the next life. 

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of this idea after I saw chapter 2 and that *cries* Reddie is canon. I know it's a bit odd and kinda cheesy. But please let me know what you thought!


End file.
